ABSTRACT

At some stage in a Curator’s career, and not necessarily far on, he or she will become responsible for a museum building, its use and its maintenance. The principles which apply to undertaking these management tasks apply equally to small and large buildings. However, the problems of open-air museums, which involve wider issues of estate management, are not considered here. Similarly, I shall not be concerned with the commissioning of new buildings or major conversion projects. Rather, I shall look at the problem of existing buildings and historic structures which may already be, or are intended to be, used for museum purposes.